TymeDigital is SA’s first digital bank

IN A country where many people still have to contend with exorbitant banking financial requirements, new kid on the block TymeDigital could be the next banking industry disruptor that will take the industry by storm through its proposed wide range affordable digital banking offering.

Last week, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) issued an operating licence to TymeDigital by Commonwealth Bank SA. This was the first licence issued to a new bank by the SARB since 1999 and was published in last week’s Government Gazette.

In an interview with the African Times this week, the CEO of TymeDigital said the company was part of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (CBA) International Financial Services (IFS) division.

Sandile Shabalala, the CEO of TymeDigital said: “This is a key milestone in our plans to launch a full service digital bank and disrupt banking in South Africa. We will offer South Africans the ability to open accounts and transact securely, within minutes. Through our innovative technology and financial education we aim to get more people using banking services to enhance their lives and increase economic of people, businesses and communities. The bank already operates Money Transfer, in partnership with Pick n Pay (PnP) and Boxer stores. Our simple, paperless registration process has already secured more than 200 000 customers for the service.”

Patrice Motsepe, the chairman of ARC said: “Our investment is an essential part of our plans to build an empowered, pan African financial services group.”.

He further added that by supporting technology which can be used to provide access to financial services is one of the ways the company plans to broaden and deepen financial inclusion in South Africa and other emerging markets.

According to Shabalala, who is also a seasoned banker with more than 23 years experience in major banking institutions across SA, one of the significant draw cards towards the digital bank, on top of its retail offering was its focus on being a digital banking platform for small businesses across the country.

The most pertinent question is how do we bring people into the financial services industry. There are many people who have bank accounts, but in the truest form of financial inclusion people are not exposed to wider scale banking on a deeper level.

Through the provision of financial literacy, we also need to ask ourselves how do we expose the underserved community to banking. Our business is about bringing people into banking and to also ensure that they get access to wider financial services.

The second big idea revolves around integrating banking into people’s lifestyles which is why we formed a relationship with pick pay and Boxer Superstores across the country where our clients will have the experience of having their banking integrated with their shopping. People can do banking at pick n pay and we can then use the technology to improve customer experience. Technology has advanced so much that there is huge opportunity for us to transform banking in SA and redesign the banking experience.

In addition, another element of significance with TymeDigital is that it is not burdened by huge infrastructure as it is a digital platform, which means that there is space to provide much more affordable banking to customers.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) Group CEO, Ian Narev, said this was an important milestone for CBA.

“We believe that we have an opportunity to contribute to the financial wellbeing of South Africans, through a business model that uses the potential of new technologies to make life better for customers. We aim to build a sustainable business in South Africa, and to work in an open and cooperative way with the SARB and other relevant regulators. We also hope to see TymeDigital become a source of broader research and development for CBA,” he said.

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